Qazvin publications under the burden of high prices; Does the share of government advertisements go to the press?

Qazvin - The increase in printing costs and the decrease in income have caused the publication of local newspapers in Qazvin to face a crisis. Now, the announcement of the instructions for the distribution of government advertisements has created a new hope for the local press.

Ambassador Arjan - Provinces Group: Local and indigenous media are one of the communication links of society with regional issues and demands; The media that focus on the events, problems and capacities of the province, answer part of the audience's need for local news and information. However, the increase in the costs of producing and publishing content, especially in print publications, has made it difficult for these media to continue their economic activity.

In recent years, some local publications have gone out of publication due to financial problems, and others have tried to continue their activities by reducing the number of pages or publishing irregularly. Despite the difference in the activity structure, local news bases are not immune from the costs of maintaining and updating the site, providing human resources and continuously producing content.

In such an atmosphere, the distribution of government advertisements among local media has become one of the important issues of the media economy in the province; An issue that has now received attention once again with the notification of instructions on giving priority to local media by Shahram Ahmadpour, political and security deputy of the governor of Qazvin.

According to the explanations of the media officials of the province, this directive, which was previously approved by the 13th government, emphasizes the priority of native and local media in the distribution of government advertisements, and its implementation can reduce part of the revenue problems of the provincial press.

155 native media of Qazvin are struggling with financial problems

Seyyed Mustafa Jafari, the head of Qazvin Press House, in an interview with Mehr reporter, referring to the activity of 155 native and local media in the province, stated: Of these, 43 are print media, 58 are news base media, and 54 are online media.

He stated that local and native media of the province are facing a severe lack of financial resources, and considered the implementation of the plan to distribute government advertisements with the priority of local media as a support measure that should have been implemented earlier.

The head of the Press House of Qazvin province explained: According to the approved instructions, the priority of government announcements in the provinces is with local and local media, and after that, national media and news agencies are prioritized.

Referring to the prediction of distribution of at least 60% and maximum 70% of government advertisements among local and local media of the provinces, Jafari added: This issue is emphasized in Article 9 of the guidelines, but its implementation has not been achieved as expected.

He stated that the recent announcement obliges the executive bodies to respect the priority of local media, and said: the implementation of this directive can help strengthen local media and solve part of their financial and income problems.

At the same time, the head of the Press House of Qazvin province considered the distribution of national publications in the province to be one of the issues that need to be addressed and stated: Among the 123 national media mentioned, only a limited number of publications are distributed in the province's press counters.

Jafari emphasized that the media that do not have an effective distribution and presence in the province should not have the same priority in receiving provincial advertisements regardless of this issue, and in the implementation of this plan, attention should be paid to the capacity and position of local media.

The contribution of local media should not be ignored in the implementation phase

Mahnaz Esmaili, the editor of the Velayat newspaper, also emphasized the need to support the local press and stated in an interview with the Mehr reporter: "The local media raise the concerns and problems of the province and it is a shame that they are out of print and publication one after another due to financial problems."

He expressed his hope that the publication of the guidelines for the distribution of government advertisements can help improve the economic situation of local media and added: One of the existing problems is the publication of advertisements of executive bodies in national newspapers instead of local publications.

The editor of the Velayat newspaper, referring to the auction and tender advertisements of the executive bodies, said: despite the rules related to the publication of these advertisements in the local media, some organizations publish the advertisements in national publications citing the increase in costs; An issue that harms the economy of local newspapers.

Esmaili said that the publication of an ad in the national media does not necessarily mean that it will be seen in the local community, and continued: the national media have a specific position and scope of distribution, and the local media also cover the issues and needs of the province in accordance with their mission; Therefore, the right intended for local media should not be ignored in the implementation phase.

He emphasized: Local media have no problem with the principle of activity of national media, but their demand is to implement the rules and fair distribution of government advertisements in order to secure part of the financial resources needed to continue their activities.

Supporting low-income media should be a priority

In an interview with Mehr's reporter, Arash Shaistenia, a professor of communication and social sciences and a media activist in Qazvin province, also pointed out the higher costs of print publications compared to many virtual media and stated: Despite the high costs of production and publication, local publications usually do not have the fame and range of audiences of major media and use less capacity to attract private advertisements.

Emphasizing the necessity of supporting these media, he said: the government should pay attention to media that have less reputation and economic power in its support policies; Especially local publications and local news bases that need financial resources to continue their activities.

This media activist considered the implementation of the guidelines for the distribution of government advertisements as an opportunity to strengthen the province's media, but the realization of this goal was conditional on its comprehensive and fair implementation.

Shaistenya clarified: If this directive is to remain only as a title and slogan, and in practice some media receive a larger share and others are deprived of its benefits, not only the problem will not be solved, but the situation may also become more unfavorable than the current situation.

Referring to the necessity of providing executive infrastructure before the full implementation of the plan, he added: If only rated media are to benefit from this capacity, a significant part of news bases and written media will be excluded from the scope of support.

This professor of communication and social sciences emphasized: the implementation of the guidelines should be comprehensive and the advertisement distribution mechanism should be designed in such a way that low-income media also have the possibility of benefiting from the expected support.

main test; Clear and fair implementation of instructions

The total opinions of the media activists of the province show that the announcement of the instructions for the distribution of government advertisements alone is not the end of the economic problems of the native media of Qazvin. The effectiveness of this decision depends on how it is implemented, respecting the set priorities and preventing the local media from being deprived of the expected share.

On the one hand, print publications are facing increasing paper and printing costs and decreasing income sources, and on the other hand, news bases need financial resources to maintain technical infrastructure and continue content production. In such a situation, the income from government advertisements can reduce part of the economic pressure on the media, but the extent of this effect depends on how the resources are distributed.

Also, determining clear criteria for the benefit of the media, specifying the contribution of each group, monitoring the performance of the executive bodies and paying attention to the media that are left behind from the rating or official support mechanisms despite local activity, are among the issues that can be important in the implementation of this policy.

Now the main question is whether the notification of the directive can lead to a tangible change in the economic situation of the local Qazvin media? The answer to this question will be determined not in the text of the notification, but in the degree of adherence of the executive bodies to it and the possibility of monitoring the distribution of advertisements.

Maintaining and strengthening local media does not only mean supporting a few publications or news bases; It is also related to the continuation of the flow of information about the issues of the province and maintaining the possibility of reflecting the demands of the local community. Therefore, the fair implementation of the guidelines for the distribution of government advertisements can be a step in the direction of strengthening the media economy in Qazvin; Provided that this support is comprehensive, transparent and assessable in practice.